I had come across the Gallery of Wearable Art (GOWA) at the first street festival of the year – A La Carte & Art Show in Mountain View, California. The Gallery of Wearable Art has a store in Cambria, CA and does wholesaling to other shops. However, they do participate in a few street festivals during the year, mainly in Colorado, so it was just luck that we ran into them this weekend. The company is owned by Christopher and Dinah Lee. Each year the couple goes to Paris to pick out their favorite designs in silk, they purchase them and, then, Dinah fashions them into wearable art. The motto: For the Goddess in Every Woman.

Seamless Duster in Fantasia

The Petal Jacket

Fashion Tunic

If you visit Cambria, it you will find it is a very cute little covey of shops and stores. It is a seaside town with a very artistic flare. It is definitely worth the trouble if you are anywhere near the vicinity. The address of GOWA Creative Arts is 4009 West Street, Cambria, CA 93428.

Middle end to upper end Women’s clothing made in America is difficult to find consistently. That is because often the brands are hardly ever 100% made in the USA, and the percentage of US made changes from year to year. Guideboat, a company in Marin, California has a number of brands that are made in the Unites States as well as other clothing made throughout Europe. Of course, Guideboat does carry some clothing that is made in China and Vietnam, but unlike most stores, they are not in the majority. This Atlantique peacoat caught my eye.

Atlantique Navy Peacoat

Smartly styled for ship or shore, Guideboat’s warm-weather-weight, double-breasted beauty is tailored in all-cotton Brisbane English cavalry twill with regimental cuffs, classic epaulets and a throat latch. It also boasts a French-faced front and chambray-lined pockets. Anchor-engraved tortoiseshell marine buttons add to this coat’s swath-cutting appeal. 100% cotton. Tailored in NYC of British fabric.

There is another coat that I thought was quite stylish (also made in the USA), this sailing shell coat:

GBC Sailing Shell

Derived from a long line of Eastern Seaboard provisioning, our real-deal shell is designed for on-water bluster and on-land showers, chilly evenings and o’er bathing-suit breezes. In water-repellent canvas duck with welt-zip pockets, adjustable cuffs, a throat latch and a removable hood. 100% cotton. Cut and sewn in New York City. Sizes XS–XL. Chandlery Yellow or Navy.

Check out the other items at Guideboat.com. They even have boats for sale.